Sturgeon County Climate Adaptation Action Plan

The impacts of climate change are already affecting Sturgeon County and will be felt more strongly in the coming decades. Creating a Climate Adaptation Action Plan (CAAP) helps Sturgeon County’s local environment, economy, and residents to thrive in the face of climate change. This Climate Adaptation Action Plan is meant to be a guide for Sturgeon County in building climate resilience for its community. This Climate Adaptation Action Plan is meant to be a guide for Sturgeon County in building climate resilience for its community. The vision of the CAAP is as follows: The Climate Adaptation Action Plan promotes responsible stewardship by reducing the impacts of climate change on Sturgeon County while honouring our rural roots, promoting prosperity, and dreaming big.

Scope

Community-wide – All municipal assets, services, and operations; And all homes, private buildings and infrastructure, the local economy, ecosystem functions and services, and the health and wellbeing of residents.

Four themes – Resilient Water Management, Health and Wellbeing, Strong and Resilient Economy, Disaster Resilience.

Risks

7 priority risks – Heat Wave, Seasonal Drought, Wildland/Cropland Fire, Wildfire Smoke, Outbreak of Invasive Agricultural Pests, Water Supply Shortage, Lowland Flooding due to Precipitation.

Opportunities

1 priority opportunity – Increased agricultural productivity.

Actions

Resilient Water Management (5 actions), Health and Wellbeing (7 actions), Strong and Resilient Economy (2 actions), Disaster Resilience (11 actions).

Social Equity

The plan “addresses equity by ensuring that all residents of Sturgeon County were taken into consideration in adaptation planning, so that everyone could benefit from this process.”

Community Engagement

Vulnerability and Risk Assessment Workshop with County staff and stakeholders to assess the consequences and benefits of 19 climate impact scenarios.

Public survey delivered to Sturgeon County residents and business owners distributed via the Sturgeon County website.

Implementation

The implementation of this plan is the responsibility of Sturgeon County. However, the role of climate adaptation extends beyond the County and will extend to partnerships, synergies and alignment to external initiatives and funding from other orders of government.